Genetic Diversity of Trypanosomes Infesting Cattle from Savannah District in North of Côte d'Ivoire Using Conserved Genomic Signatures: rRNA, ITS1 and gGAPDH

Jean-Yves Ekra; Eliakunda Michael Mafie; Edouard K N'Goran; Dramane Kaba; Biégo Guillaume Gragnon; Jagan Srinivasan

doi:10.3390/pathogens13030262

Genetic Diversity of Trypanosomes Infesting Cattle from Savannah District in North of Côte d'Ivoire Using Conserved Genomic Signatures: rRNA, ITS1 and gGAPDH

Pathogens. 2024 Mar 19;13(3):262. doi: 10.3390/pathogens13030262.

Authors

Jean-Yves Ekra^{1

2

3}, Eliakunda Michael Mafie¹, Edouard K N'Goran⁴, Dramane Kaba⁵, Biégo Guillaume Gragnon⁶, Jagan Srinivasan³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Parasitology and Biotechnology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 67125, Tanzania.
² SACIDS Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases, SACIDS Foundation for One Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 67125, Tanzania.
³ Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
⁴ Unité de Formation et de Recherche (UFR) des Sciences Biologiques, Département de Biochimie-Génétique, Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly, Korhogo BP1328, Côte d'Ivoire.
⁵ Unité de Recherche «Trypanosomoses», Institut Pierre Richet 01, Bouaké BP1500, Côte d'Ivoire.
⁶ Laboratoire National d'Appui au Développement Agricole (LANADA), Korhogo BP1328, Côte d'Ivoire.

Abstract

The potential danger to livestock from African animal trypanosomiasis is well known. However, the trypanosome species circulating in cattle and their genetics are poorly understood. After different alignments according to three regions (ITS1, gGAPDH and rRNA gene) of the trypanosome genome, phylogenetic analyses were used to show the genetic diversity of the different species that were circulating in the cattle in three regions (Bagoue, Poro and Tchologo) of Côte d'Ivoire. These analyses were performed by alignment of ITS1; by alignment of partial 18S, ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2 and partial 28S rRNA genes; and by alignment of gGAPDH gene with sequences of Trypanosomes found in GenBank. Three species were identified (T. vivax, T. theileri and T. congolense) in the cattle in the three northern regions of Côte d'Ivoire. T. vivax and T. theileri were the most abundant species in the present study. Contrary to the other primers used in this study, the ITS1 primers were not able to amplify T. theileri. We observed mixed infections between T. theileri and the other two species identified (T. vivax and T. congolense). As far as primers are concerned, in some cases, rRNA was able to identify the same species of trypanosomes that the ITS1 and gGAPDH primers were able to identify. Two main distinct groups of T. theileri complex were identified. The T. congolense and T. vivax strains were close to African strains, such as those from Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon, unlike the T. theileri strain. Three trypanosome species (T. vivax, T. theileri and T. congolense) circulate in cattle in the Savannah district of Côte d'Ivoire. The genetic diversity of the trypanosome species encountered in this study cannot be classified as intraspecies according to geographical area and breed of cattle they infect.

Keywords: Côte d’Ivoire; cattle; phylogenetic; trypanosomes.

Grants and funding

The Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) funded this research through the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF), which was awarded to Jean-Yves Ekra to pursue doctoral studies at the SACIDS Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases, SACIDS Foundation for One Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania. The APC was funded by PASET-RSIF, a sustainable pan-African science fund supporting high quality doctoral training and research in African universities and other institutions of higher learning. The funders had no say in the study’s design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish or the manuscript preparation. The study’s results and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.